Porto—May 6, 2023

Day 3: Today we decided to re-familiarize ourselves with the city, beginning with the renovated Bolhao Market. Five years ago it was in really poor condition but today it's beautiful. (Remember, you can click on a picture to enlarge it.)

A little people watching for him and us.

It's May 6th but feels like July in Seattle.

The famous Portuguese salted cod.

Every kind of dried mushroom imaginable.

Olive oil goes well with mushrooms.

Fresh oysters, octopus, shrimp—they have it all.

The sardines in Portugal are deliciously famous.

After the market we walked toward Santa Catarina, famous for its Art Deco architecture, shopping and the Majestic Cafe where intellectuals and business leaders hung out in the 20's. Now the cafe and street is a tourist magnet so that's why we crossed the street and kept walking, looking for an out of the way cafe.

Note the artistic commentary here.

Santa Catarina hordes.

Found a cool place to chill at mile 5.

University students who just completed their first year are initiated (hazed) before earning their black cloak.

Large packs of students roamed the city undertaking silly tasks set by seniors. This rite of passage is a good excuse to party. And they did well into the night. How do we know? They sang and chanted up and down our street.

Mural on the way to Luiz I Bridge.

It's a Saturday and we just wanted to check out
how crowded this popular site would be and....

Gaia is just across the bridge and where port  

cellar tasting rooms draw tons of tourists.

Here's the same crowd shown above. Love my
zoom lense. We can see what to avoid.

We stopped by Sao Bento (historic & UNESCO World Heritage site) train station to find out how often trains depart for Coimbra. I took this video to show the 20,000+ azulejo tiles depicting historic moments and rural scenes from regions of Portugal. 

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Bento_railway_station)

Time to wander back to our place on
Cedofeita, a street known for its shops,
restaurants, and cafes since it was
extended in1847.

I call this the "Short Cut". It's just off
Cedofeita proper and leads downtown.
Five years ago, this street was torn up
while new water and gas lines were
installed.

Doors of shops along the "Short Cut"
(i.e. Travessa de Cedofeita).

Another "Short Cut" store front. Note
what the business.

Later in the evening we took another stroll and ran into students still undergoing the rite of passage. By early evening the student leaders were imbibing and the initiation tasks grew louder and sillier. 

By evening's end we were surprised to find we'd walked 9 miles.